Greek unemployment hits 24.4% in June; 1.2 million jobless: data

ATHENS -- Greece's jobless rate rose to 24.4 percent in June with more than 1.2 million people unemployed, official data showed on Thursday ahead of an EU-IMF audit crucial to the country's economic survival.

The state statistics agency said that more than 50,000 people had lost their jobs since May, a number that rose to 358,000 since June 2011.

Hardest hit by a recession now in its fifth year were those aged up to 24, who suffered from a jobless rate of 55 percent, the data showed.